Death Metal Hands - Sonny Day, Ken Taylor, James Jirat Patradoon

Death Metal Hands is a collection of new paintings and drawings from three of eastern Australia’s finest illustrators/artists. The show is the culmination of a long-running conversation and will give each artist a great excuse to finally to talk to someone else at the party or just get another drink.

Sonny Day is an Illustrator and Artist based in Orange, NSW, and one half of illustration duo Webuyyourkids (WBYK). Day has been a practicing artist for the past 20 years. His work is bold and humorous, often dealing with death, sex and fresh produce. Both under his own name and alongside WBYK partner Biddy Maroney, Sonny has released many exclusive and sold-out prints through pop culture powerhouse Mondo — earning the duo a zealous fan base along the way. While WBYK have exhibited extensively, both nationally and internationally, Sex Mission, Sex Metal Hands, Watch Out For The Cops (2013) at Kind Of Gallery and Pink Fist (2014) at Lamington Drive marked Sonny’s return to solo exhibiting after 10 years. In 2016 he curated Ludlow Creative Space in Orange. For this show Sonny presents a collection of acrylic paintings on board featuring reoccurring motifs of dangerous predators, flowers, and fruit — thinly veiled symbols that question masculinity and self-image.

Ken Taylor is a Melbourne-based Illustrator and Designer, best known for his striking posters for various legends of the music industry. Ken has designed posters and album artwork for major international bands such as Metallica, Queens of the Stone Age, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Avett Brothers, First Aid Kit, PJ Harvey, Florence and the Machine, Phish, Bob Dylan, and The Rolling Stones. In recent years he has also become very well-renowned for his limited-edition silkscreened movie posters, working through Mondo, with some of the worlds biggest movie licences. The level of detail in his work is nothing short of completely and utterly mind-boggling, which no doubt contributes to all of his sold-out solo shows in both Australia and the US. Death Metal Hands will see Taylor unveil three ornate oil paintings on wooden panels – each piece etherial and dark, distinctive of his style.

James Jirat Patradoon’s work is informed by a wealth of cultural references, from 80s fashion to comic books and Japanese cult anime. An arcane obsession with the occult seeps through every pore of his high octane pieces, conjuring visions of a surreal bubblegum gothic paradise. He renders his ideas in flashes of neon and monochrome, creating captivating gifs, murals and digital artwork with searing, luminous colours. This exhibition will present a series of meticulously detailed razor sharp ballpoint drawings, depicting a glossy hypersexualised rogues gallery in reveries of demonic euphoria.